Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MA_TESOL]

Unfortunately, I have entertained this question. If I were homeless could I survive? I hope I never have to find out, but it happens to people and not because they are schizo or drunks etc. I know I would never want to choose the skid row scenario! I think I would choose the wilderness. Maybe by a lake or river and in a desolate area. The skid row scenario is too harsh, dirty, criminal and obviously stigmatized. Some people live out of their car, but then you have to buy gas, maintenance and insurance. I guess there is just no easy way to be homeless.

[laogaiguk]

There are actually a lot of ways out of homelessness in our society. Many homeless are not educated enough to know about them, too set in their ways, or some are actually just plain lazy or stupid.

[traxxe]

I put myself in a situation on purpose where I was homeless for a week.

I wanted to see what it was like. Decided hell or high water I would stick it out seven days.

I started with absolutely no money and the clothes on my back. I cut contact with all my peers. I used apartment swimming pools to bathe. Water was easy to find.

I did drink a bit. I did a little work, begged a little. For 99 cents I could buy a 40 of malt liquor which was way more filling than the food I could buy. Plus ramen is cheap I could get that with just change.

It was freaking boring but I was drunk a lot and about day five or so the sleeping wasn't as bad.

I wouldn't do it again though, by choice.

[EzeWong]

I imagine being homeless is a sweat deal if you're smart about it.

Tax evasion, no utilties, no rent (obviously), and everynight is an adventure.

In terms of sleepign there are great places all over the cities. There's been tons of times I've seen crevices in buildings that exhaust heat and I'm like "That'd be a nice little cranny to take a nap in".

Washing would be so easy in Korea. I mean, the subway bathrooms are decent enough (in Daegu). Anyone can use them and no one monitors it.

And begging could be a real cash cow if done properly. Everyone has their deal, but I prefer the "I'm in a suit and need money for the subway routine." They conducted research on 20/20 that showed if you were wearing a suit and was very presentable people were more apt to give as much as $5 thinking you needed it for a ride home.

I might actually think about it if the exchange rate keeps going south.

[VanIslander]

homelessness would be an honourable option compared to what I'd do if so destitute: steal what I need until caught, then go to jail and get three square meals a day and a roof over my head

sad but true

[sojourner1]

I did survive it 2 times due to periods of unemployment in the early 1990's after I graduated high school. One time was in the Winter out of a car for a couple months and another time was several weeks in a car. I was to the point I could no longer pay the $50 or $75 weekly rent on a sleeping room and actually got real skinny, but survived on going to a soup kitchen. It was not because I was drunk, doing drugs, lazy, or incompetent, but because I couldn't find any work at times and was bouncing around in temp agency assignments paying only $4 to $5 an hour with sporadic 2 or 3 day labor jobs. The early 90's were brutal for a young guy fresh outta high school much like how it is today. While I normally don't steal, I resorted to stealing gas and food, because I was that desperate. It was hell.

I ended up joining the Army and going to college. It was still very tough through college with no parental support of sort, but I made it barely by the skin of my teeth in keeping my apartment. That GI bill money sure helped with the rent on a sleeping room as work was always hard to get and what I did get was such little pay.

[RACETRAITOR]

I have a half-Korean friend who survived being homeless in Korea for a while. He squatted in a punk club, and pretended to be mute so he could get cheap construction jobs.

[Justin Hale]

I would much, much, much rather be dead.

I'd imagine I'd either take a huge cocktail of alcohol and downers or jump off a tall building.

In short, no.

[itaewonguy]

yes easily! and I think most people could.. its human nature to survive!
it depends if you are slave to a substance or not..
that makes a big different on your homeless living standards..
but yes, not a problem..

[Fishead soup]

Squatting is another alternative. There are tons of abandoned buildings around. The landlord uses them as tax write offs. I once knew an unemployed artist who lived in Toronto. There are literally hundreds of places you can find break into and live.

I believe it was popular in England during the whole punk subculture.

[JongnoGuru]

[blurgalurgalurga]

I hitch-hiked around North America quite a lot, mostly in Canada, in the early nineties. I had a few thousand bucks grand in the bank for a lot of that time, but I contrived to deny myself access to it. I knew that when things got ugly, I'd bail myself out and blow my money on hotels and bus tickets and stuff, so I left the bank card at my mother's house back in Canada. The intent of my travels was to get a look at the country, and the parts of the states I was interested in, from a kind of 'worm's eye' view, and see stuff I wouldn't have seen had I been staying in hotels.

To get by I did some agricultural labor where I could find it, and collected a couple of welfare checks. I never begged directly, but of course a welfare check is pretty much the same thing.

The people I met in the cities I visited were mostly squatters, drunks, runaways, people fleeing warrants in other states, and the like. They were properly homeless; I was just a dilletante. So, while I can claim that I have indeed survived homelessness (it was easy, BTW--you can get food enough from soup kitchens, and as long as you're not desperately sick or addicted to stuff it's not that bad really), I can't claim that I was ever really that desperate. I knew if things went really badly sour, the option was still there to call collect and get money wired to me.

I saw some pretty wretched things, but I got off scot-free from all the bad scenes that happened around me. That was due mostly to luck, and also to the fact that I don't look particularly appetizing to predators, and also partly to a blithe, idiot confidence that repels evil-doers. Basically, I looked poor so people didn't rob me, and I'm kinda big so people didn't rape me. I did have to run away a couple of times though to avoid beat-downs from rednecks and mean big city street kids who would've rolled me for a blanket or a pack of smokes.

I gave that pseudo-Kerouacky scene up though by the time I was 21 or so. Hitch-hiking sucks.

[crusher_of_heads]

It depends. If I was in a war torn area and had to get the hell out, yes. If I had a drastic and severe personal downturn with little support and possible depression over it, that would be tougher to deal with it.


I hope to never find out.

[drkalbi]

I love camping!

[madoka]

I did some pro bono work for the indigent, so I know that if I were ever in that situation, I would:

1. Get emergency housing funds (it's enough to sleep at a flop house for several weeks).
2. Get food stamps and use soup kitchens.
3. On average, the typical panhandler can make $20-$40 per day.
4. I'd use that money to rent a PO Box, get a pay-as-you-go cell phone, and send out resumes from Kinko's.
5. Wait till I could find a job.

The cheat here for most of us is that we are college educated. The problem with many homeless is that they are "hardcore unemployables" - which is a term used to describe the drug addicts, alcoholics, those with mental health issues, etc. who can never hold a steady job.

I had a student who was once briefly homeless in Romania. Now that is TOUGH. They cripple their own babies to make them better beggars over there. He told me he lost 80 lbs. in a matter of weeks.